Pinecrest Bakery - Goulds — Restaurant in Florida

I want to start by saying that I have been visiting Pinecrest bakery for the past 4 years ever since I moved nearby. I loved the pastelitos, croquettes and almost everything the brand has come to offer.

I however do not write this message to congratulate. I do with the intent that someone like Efrain will become aware of the business practices that I believe are not in the best interest of the costumer.

On November 17th, 2024 I called in to the Pinecrest Bakery Goulds location right off US1 (nearest location to me). I inquired about the Turkey catering for 25 people that included "Congri, Maduro, and salad". In the phone call I spoke with a gentleman who answered most questions (although I will say he did seem a bit new as he put me on hold for quite a while). I hold nothing against him, none of us should expect to know everything. I called back the next day once I had decided to place the order. I spoke with lady and placed my order for Thursday November 28th, 2024 (Thanksgiving day) at 4pm. Never in either of the two phone calls was it mentioned to me that the food would not come warm.

To my surprise when I show up to pick up the turkey, yes indeed the turkey was cold, the rice was dry and hard as concrete, maduros the same. I asked why it was like that, and I was told "just heat it up you'll be fine".

As you may assume I was hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my house and I had little time to stand there and argue the results of my order. I will say for $275 and change for a literal "cold Turkey" is not what I was expecting. Especially with the numerous visits I've had to Pinecrest bakery.

Fast forward to the dinner I heated up the food as directed. Let me tell you that did not help at all. The stench from the turkey itself was disgusting to say the least not to mention the stale rice and maduros. Fast forward to a couple days and I receive multiple calls that about half of my family has now had 48 hrs of diarrhea and vomiting. I ask those who seem to have had food poisoning what they ate and the common denominator is confirmed to be the food from Pinecrest Bakery.

So I return to the bakery on Sunday(speak with Elizabeth) and I am told to return Monday to speak with the manager (Yalaina Hidalgo). She refused to give me a refund for what has happened. Her defense was I didn't return the food. No I did not return the food because it was disgusting and smelled like vomit. I threw away the food that same night of Thanksgiving. I find it insulting that I must have to keep and return the very food that poisoned half my family.

Now I write all this to say, I am but one person. I do however have a very VERY large family. I may not get a refund of the unreasonable large $275.18 but I promise you this. My family, friends or myself will never spend a penny on any Pinecrest bakery. Whenever someone brings them up I will tell this story. Whenever someone suggest buying I will tell this story.

It is very disappointing that a brand that mentions their community so much on their website fails to take care of that very community when an issue arrives.

Side note, when I called to confirm the managers name. I kept...

We initially ended up on the wrong side, which was the Guayaba Restaurant. We thought it was all the same. On the Guayaba side, we waited 10 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. When we saw the menu, we asked for breakfast and were told to go to the other side. So we walked over to the other side, which was Pinecrest. As we walked, we came into a heavily crowded space. Felt like an old-school DMV. Luckily, I saw the reel to take a number before being served. Waited about 10 minutes for our number to be called. While we waited, we pulled up their menu via the QR code on the table. There was an offer that said order a sandwich and get a free breakfast combo. Finally I'm called.. I showed the lady the special on the phone, which apparently required them to provide me a pin in order to redeem it. She was clueless... not only that, but she was pushy with my order. I couldn't finish telling her my order because she was going 100MPH to my 25mph, as I was trying to figure out their menu and specials. We ordered 2 breakfast combos. Couldn't get the special thanks to her lack of knowledge.

First order- fried eggs over medium, fries, bacon, toast, and coffee.

Second order was the same, except I asked for scrambed eggs.

When the orders came out, they were both fried eggs. When I alerted the lady it was wrong, she looked at me like I was the issue, she couldn't believe my order was wrong, clearly I was mistaken.

They fixed my order, but almost gave me a second order that turned out to be for another Customer. I explained I was only missing 1 order for scrambed eggs.

Onto the food:

Food was EXTREMELY greasy. I don't mind grease, after all it's fried food. HOWEVER, it seems they don't drain the extra grease off when taking it out from the fryer. So you have your eggs, fries, bacon all smothered in grease.

The bacon was from another animal or planet. Definitely not Oscar Mayers lol. It's probably from another part of the pig. Basically, it's not your typical bacon. It looks reddish and has more of a turkey/ham bacon look to it. Seeing that, plus how greasy, I passed on the bacon. My wife said it tasted like ham.

The Cuban bread toast was awesome 👌 The coffee was okay.

The place: Tables were all dirty and out of place. Seems like no one really comes out to wipe them clean as customers use them and leave.

Tight space, which requires you to take a number in order to be served.

Utensils were missing from the dispensers.

Bottom line: I came here because I visited the Pinecrest Bakery of North Miami and enjoyed it. It happened to be close to work and was great for lunch.

This place, I will not return, nor recommend based on...

Would not go back based on the food alone and I'm a Pinecrest bakery junkie. I have just never been to the restaurant and gave it a shot since my friend was down south and we met somewhere convenient for him. Service was okay. I mean, there were only 2 other parties outside, but I did have to wait twice for water refills during my meal. Started off with the seafood appetizer. It was pretty awful. Heaviily-breaded, overly-sweet and barely any seafood inside the breading. Not what I was expecting, based on what the server said. My friend and I ate about half and we have hefty appetites, but simply did not care for it at all. For our meals, he ordered the vaca frita and described it as "average". I had the oxtail which, admittedly, had great flavor. However, it was only 2 pieces and the most fat I have ever seen on oxtail. This was not ordered off a lunch specials menu where the portions are expected to be smaller. I'd say about 1/4 of it was fat. Yes, I know oxtail is fatty, but it had the most I have ever had by far. When you're only offering 2 pieces, you would want a higher quality. Flavor was good, however. The atmosphere was nice, but what bothered both my friend and I, was someone had to park their McClaren in the handicap spot, and NO, they did not have a handicap pass hanging up. This may have no reflection on ownership, although I believe I did see the owner there but don't know what car he drives. So he/she/whomever it was, felt it was more important to park close and keep it safer, than perhaps one of the elderly customers who may really have needed it, such as my parents or my friend's mom. It was a demonstration of arrogance and condescension that was a huge turn off. The lot is huge. I am sure they could have found another place to park their pricey vehicle and keep it safe from door dings, but then, of course, no one would have seen what he/she drives had it not been parked in...